Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerLast season, Matt Kroul was a defensive lineman, seen here sacking Eagles quarterback Mike Kafka in a preseason game. The Jets have moved him over to the offensive line.

From Jets coach Rex Ryan’s vantage point, Matt Kroul had all the attributes to complete a position change.

For nearly a decade of high school, college and pro football, Kroul toiled on the defensive line, soaking up all the tricks offensive linemen could throw at him. He wrestled at his Iowa high school, learning what Ryan referred to as “body control.”

The conversation to make Kroul a hybrid offensive and defensive lineman went down Friday. He didn’t hesitate when Ryan asked.

“If that allows me to make the 53 (man roster), I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do the thing,’” Kroul said.

Kroul spent Saturday — the team’s off day — learning the terminology used on the offensive side of the ball. By Sunday, his number changed from 98 to 66. His practice jersey switched from defensive green to offensive white. He worked out on the opposite end of the field from his former defensive colleagues.

“It was a different experience, obviously,” Kroul said. “Eight years of my life I’ve been playing defensive line. It’s a change, but you just take it in stride and learn as fast as you can, get thrown in there and do the best you can.”

There is a precedent, one Kroul takes comfort in during this transition period. Jets starting right guard Brandon Moore made the same change early in his NFL career and is considered one of the best players in the NFL at his position.

Amid the shuffle, Kroul said Moore already came to him and told him he could stop by for advice whenever needed.

The thought was Kroul would understand how to block a defensive lineman naturally. He would have an idea of attack points and know how to cloak a play so as not to give away its direction by his movements.

He could also save a roster spot by serving as a backup on both sides of the ball, allowing the team to pad other positions.

“It’s a completely different perspective. You’re just looking at things from the other side of the line,” said Kroul, a second-year player out of Iowa. “As a defensive lineman, you know where your guys are at, now it’s a lot more reading, a lot more knowing where guys are at.”

He is not yet ready to say which Jets defensive linemen are the toughest to block, mostly because he is not yet ready to block them.

“So much stuff is going on right now,” he said. “I’m just kind of sitting back and absorbing it.”

But he is prepared to let his mind wander. If it worked for Moore, maybe it could work for him. The goal, Kroul said, is to keep moving up the food chain one way or the other.

“This almost provides me with the better chance,” he said. “Last year I was always kind of one guy off on the defensive line. It’s kind of like you’re almost there but you’re not. This change will hopefully bring me to that point.”